2022 Reflections

As we move into 2023, it's the ideal time to reflect on the most popular blog posts of 2022. If you want to move with ease and enjoy everything life has to offer, well into your retirement years, these posts are for you. Let's look back at the most popular posts of 2022 that are designed to inpsire, educate and improve your quality of life.

Can You Balance On 1 Leg For 10 Seconds?

You may remember halway through 2022 when the media exploded with results of a fascinating new study that was released.  It revealed that the inability to balance on 1 leg for 10 secs could be an indicator of underlying serious health conditions.  For those of you who know me, you know how passionate I am about balance training and that I incorporate it into every one of my clients" 1 on 1 virtual sessions.  There are also numerous balance related videos on my on-demand website for all different levels of ability. Balance training is vital to prevent falls and helps to strengthen your core, glutes and feet.  Some of my clients were highly motivated by these new findings and used that momentum to sharpen their balance skills even further.  If you have poor balance, the good news is, with regular practice, you can improve it quite quickly and reduce your chances of developing diseases such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Read the original full post here

 5 Reasons Upper Body Strengthening Is Essential As You Age

Many people rely on walking as their main form of exercise which has incredible benefits.  I include walking in my exercise program too, but it doesn't help you to keep your upper body strengthened.  What's so important about having a strong upper body?  One of the reasons upper body strengthening is so important is that it helps to prevent or improve your recovery from pneumonia.  We lose muscle mass when we age and unless we are activley working to strengthen our muscles, like you would in Pilates, they become weak and wasted.  The muscles of respiration, including the diaphragm and the intercostal muscles - the muscles between the ribs, as well as the abdominal muscles are vital for good lung function. These muscles are continually being strengthened when you practice Pilates as every exercise has a conscious breathing pattern.  While more research is needed, there is evidence to suggest that loss of muscle mass is linked to compromised immunity and therefore greater risk of contracting infections such as pneumonia.  When these muscles are strong you are less susceptible to contracting pneumonia but if you do become ill, you are much more likely to make a full recovery due to being able to fight the infection with a stronger immune system.  Good muscle strength is also required to be able to cope with coughing to help clear the lungs.  Unfortunately, pneumonia has a high mortality rate due to upper body muscle weakness.  It is wonderful that this is entirely preventable by maintaining muscle mass by practising Pilates, but tragically many people don't know this.  Make sure you future proof yourself against this disease and if you aren't already strengthening with Pilates click HERE to see how you can work with me in my online studio.  If you want to read the other 4 reasons why upper body strengthening is so important, click HERE

Will Dance or Pilates Reverse The Ageing Process?

The second most popular blog post of the year was based on the ABC TV 2 part special that examined the health effects of dancing on a group of over 65 year olds.  Having spent the first half of my career teaching dance and the second half teaching Pilates for 18 years years now, I'm convinced that movement really does heal and reverse the ageing process.  Therefore, it was wonderful to see the positive changes of the volunteers in the dance experiment and know there is scientific evidence confirming that movement really does heal.  My Pilates clients are getting even better results than the volunteer dancers by using this low impact form of exercise to reverse the ageing process. They can rehabilitate from cancer and surgery, overcome chronic pain such as back or hip pain, improve balance, posture, bone density and core stability.  As Pilates is a mind body connection they are constantly improving their cognitive function at each session.

"People often tell me they “don’t have time” to exercise, but you must make the time.  Remember, this isn’t about vanity or looks; it’s about your life and well-being.  Physical exercise may offer the greatest return on investment in yourself, and it’s an antidote to many things that play into your risk for decline.”

Sanjay Gupta Neurosurgeon, from his book "Keep Sharp"

If you would like to read the full post and learn more about how you can reverse the ageing process too, click HERE

Pam's Delirium Journey & Why You Need To Know What Delirium Is

By far the most read blog post of the year is Pam's Delirium Journey, Part 1 and Part 2 - The Recovery. While this is my Mum, Pam's personal story the aim of the post is also to create more awareness about what delerium actually is and how you can identify the signs in a loved one.  Pam was suddenly struck down with this mysterious and terrifying illness without warning and it was very hard to diagnose what was actually happening.  With the exception of rare cases it is a temporary condition and can last days, weeks or months.  In Pam's case she had delirium for approxi 5.5 months before she returned to normal and it was exactly 2 months before she showed any signs of improvement at all.  If a loved suddenly shows very unusual behaviour these are the 3 types of delirium  they could be experiencing:

 Hyperactive Delirium is characterised by being restless, agitated and delusional and can experience hallucinations which Pam did.

Hypoactive Delirium is the most common type and can be mistaken for depression as the patient is lethargic, withdrawn and stares into space which is exactly how Pam appeared right at the beginning which was a warning sign.

The third type is Mixed which is a combination of these 2 types and Pam definitely had a mix of the two.